


The Alphabet Gang

by Willa Shakespeare (AnonEhouse)



Series: Hieroglyphic Alphabet [2]
Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Post Gauda Prime, Rebel offspring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 10:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/Willa%20Shakespeare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Servalan always wanted children. She didn't particularly want to keep the father around, though. Her four kids slip through her fingers and wind up in an orphanage. They decide to find their fathers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Alphabet Gang

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic in the dark ages (pre my introduction to the Internet). It was printed in a zine-- The Seven Live On #11, published in May of 1998. I drew the illos on my first real computer (my Mattel Aquarius really doesn't count), a Mac Plus. Thank heaven I kept copying files to new formats and moving on, or I'd have lost all these old stories & these pics. It was WAY slow drawing with a program that had only about 6 tools, no colors not even grays (you had a choice of 8 X 8 pixel *patterns* to create the illusion of shading), no layers, and about a 2 step back memory for undoing *AND* lost the data when you shut off the computer, so I had to keep saving on SINGLE-SIDED floppys. So... each of these 4 pics was a ton of time. I hope you enjoy the story, and think it worth reposting.

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

"What!"

Federation Space Commander Khory winced. Even through the distortions of a sub-space communicator going through several planetary relays back to Earth, the fury in the woman's voice was obvious. He hadn't known Commissioner Sleer long, but her reputation preceded her. Unsuccessful subordinates of hers had a nasty habit of disappearing.

"It was beyond our control, Commissioner," he said, keeping his voice steady. Show no fear, isn't that what the old-time animal trainers advised? 

"Yes, of course," the sarcasm in the silken purr was even more frightening, "After all, your opponents were outnumbered, surrounded, helpless against a superior force. I can see where that might cause a problem for you." He wondered if he would be allowed to die in the line of duty, or if he would be listed as a deserter. Bleakly, he imagined his family as slaves, bound over to some swine on the Outer Worlds, as was the fate of all immediate relatives of 'deserters'.

"The resistance was much stronger than we were led to expect. Eight of my men were killed, playing the waiting game you ordered.The others responded according to their training..."

"Training! I gave you specific instructions. Were they not clear to you, Commander?"

"Yes. They were," he replied reluctantly. 

"Repeat them. I wish to see where I might possibly have led you to consider this debacle an acceptable military exercise."

Obediently, he said, "We were to keep Blake's base under remote surveillance, making no move until our agents in place had reported that the terrorist Kerr Avon and his crew had arrived. But, Commissioner," he said, interrupting himself, "the blockade had definitely identified their ship. Once they were shot down, there was a need for urgency."

"Yes. Survivors of a space wreck are so dangerous."

"Desperate men are dangerous, Commissioner."

"So is failure. Continue."

His heart sank. "Blake, Avon, and Avon's crew were to be brought in alive for interrogation and trial. But they are dead, Commissioner, and no longer a threat to the Federation; surely that's the important thing? The reward is just as great..."

"Not my reward!" Sleer's voice slashed. "I had plans, great plans, which your cowardice and stupidity have ruined! What a waste. Orac is lost, the Star Drive is lost, even..." She paused for a long moment. "There is perhaps one thing."

"Yes, Commissioner?" The officer had little hope, but perhaps if he could salvage something from this shambles he would live long enough to warn his family to flee. 

"I should like a small personal memento. As I will not have him, I wish something to remember him by," the Commissioner sounded odd, almost dreamy. Her voice sharpened. "You do have a qualified medic among your surviving men, I trust?"

"Yes." He didn't think much of the man, but technically he was qualified.

"Good. Then have your medic collect my souvenir. I want a live sperm sample from..."

The Space Commander never heard the end of her astonishing request, as a previously overlooked rebel of Blake's leaned around a pillar and shot at the ranking officer. The shot missed Khory, but blasted the communications device into slag. The rebel was killed immediately, of course, but that left Khory with a problem.

Not too difficult to solve, though. Counting Blake, and the males of Avon's crew, there were only four possible candidates. "Medic Scarnol. You heard the Commissioner."

The medic stepped forward, taking off his helmet as he did so. "Which one?" he asked, a bit pale at the prospect. 

"All four. Blake, Avon, Tarrant and Restal." He frowned. "Doubt if she wants the petty thief, but who can tell what she wants. Best to cover all bases."

The medic hesitated, looking down at the floor, from one still face to another. He swallowed, prominent adam's apple bobbing. "Sir?"

"Do it. Don't go squeamish on me now, trooper."

"I'm just a conscript," the medic protested. "They told me I'd get better pay if I took the aid course. It didn't cover this!"

"How complicated can it be? Take a tissue sample from the testicles, man. Use your instruments, avoid contaminating the samples and get them in stasis as soon as possible," he spoke briskly to cover his own feelings. Scarnol was right, mutilating corpses was not part of a trooper's job description. 

Scarnol did the job. He was shaky when he finished, hands trembling as he labeled the vials and set them in his medical pack, tucked amidst bandage packages. "Done, sir," he reported, sitting back on his haunches to wipe his sweaty brow.

Another shot. This one was luckier for the rebel side, taking Scarnol full in the chest as he crouched beside the pack. 

"No!" Khory yelled, whirling to kill the rebel sniper. There were more of them. Damn Blake. He must have had more troops than their agents knew. The shots were continuous, now. No chance of collecting rewards on dead rebels. Not much chance of staying live troopers. He snatched the medical pack, slinging the strap over his shoulder, and led his men out of the gauntlet.

There must have been something to his theory that men with nothing to lose made better fighters, Khory mused. Else how would he and five of his men have made it back to their ship? The whole planet was up in arms. Blake's rebels were everywhere. Fortunately, few of them knew exactly what had happened to their leader. Yet. He had a feeling a dead Blake would be even more of a romantic hero to his people, inspiring even more mayhem throughout the Federation. 

Sleer must have felt some of that romance herself, although he would never have suspected that side of her. He had little time for speculation as they were short-handed after the massacre, and he was forced to take a position on the flight deck. 

Once they'd given sign and countersign and cleared the blockade he gave the order to set course for Earth and left the flight deck without further comment. What was there to say? His men knew the situation as well as he did. 

He took the pack containing the samples to the medical unit, intending to place them in a small stasis box. He opened the pack gingerly, well aware that what slim hope he had resided on its contents. "Oh, no." Somewhere along the mad dash to safety, the vials had become uncapped and fallen over. The sterile solution covering the tissue had spilled, soaking into the fabric of the pack, presumably along with the majority of whatever sperm Scarnol's clumsy technique had gathered. If Scarnol hadn't already been dead, Khory would have killed him for his incompetence. He capped the tubes and placed the nearly empty vials within the stasis. As he carefully transferred the last one, he noticed another reason to curse Scarnol. The vials were labeled A, B, C, and D. No names.

What did that moron think he was doing, conducting a science academy exercise? Sleer was going to adore this final bit of news. Khory went to his quarters, took his unofficial sub-space communicator out of hiding, and transmitted a private code to his brother. His family would have their chance. He wiped his brow and tried to think what to say to Sleer.

"Apology accepted," Sleer said, stepping over Khory's corpse. He had courage, so she had granted him a quick death. She rubbed her hand over the small stasis box, her eyes wide and soft. "I do hope I haven't gone to all this trouble for nothing."

"You must understand, Commissioner. There is nothing I could do about it... nothing anyone could do about it," the woman in the medical smock hastened to add. "It is simply a fact of nature. The most motile sperm, the ones that were at the top of the vials, were lost. Generally, these are the male producing sperm. There were high odds against any viable sperm being found after the poor handling these specimens received. Taken post mortem ..."

"Yes, yes, I know the circumstances," Sleer waved away the woman's excuses. "I understand that there will be no choice of gender, but at least you ought to be able to test for genotype and tell me the identities of the donors."

"There was very little material to work with, and much of the genetic material had been distorted. It is fairly common among the crew of poorly shielded freighters. Solar radiations, and other spatial hazards..." She stopped her lecturing when she noted Sleer's eyes narrow as the Commissioner's limited patience ran out. "To obtain one healthy child, we had to resort to multiple fertilizations. Out of thirty-seven attempts, only four acceptable embryos resulted; one from each donor, fortunately."

"Thirty-seven? You used my entire store of ova? Years of annoying and embarrassing procedures all spent in a single experiment?"

"It was necessary. Despite our best efforts, the remaining sperm were deteriorating rapidly. There was no time..."

"True. I was unavailable for consultation." Sleer nodded. "Very well. I accept that you used your best judgment at the time. But why can't you tell me now!"

The woman nervously clasped her hands. "Later, it might be possible to take a few cells from the children for genetic comparison. Provided the donors were registered in the gene banks..."

"Three of them were Alphas, of well-established stock with impeccable pedigrees. They will have been listed from birth. The fourth man would not have been in anyone's blue book, but he had certain unique talents."

"Then you might permit even his child to live?"

Sleer frowned. "Is that why you have not determined the parentage? Do you think I will slaughter my own babies because the father was not the one I would have chosen?" She smiled. "Yes, of course, that is exactly what you thought. It was noble of you, to protect your innocent charges. But ill-advised. I want these children. All of them. I am disappointed that there will be no son to remind me of his father, but it is just as well. I might see the father too strongly in his son. My daughters will be mine alone. Still, I wish to know who the fathers were. For my own personal satisfaction."

The woman nodded. "The embryos are currently in In Vitro cylinders. It would be safest to permit them to develop undisturbed. There is a small chance that interrupting the developmental sequence, even briefly, could deform the child. Our science in this area is not as advanced as the clone-masters, or even the Auron system. We cannot accelerate the growth, nor implant information in the forming brain, as they can."

"As they could, " Sleer said, musing. "Past tense." She gestured around the laboratory. "Sobering, isn't it, to realize that your betters are no more? Makes one contemplate the frailty of life, how easily it is lost... particularly if one fails."

The woman swallowed. "The children are healthy. There is every reason to expect successful decantation in another eight months."

"There had better be." Sleer swept out in a froth of black lace and feathers, leaving the doctors and scientists to wipe their brows and give thanks for her departure.

***

Sleer saw to it that her project was funded against any possibly contingency, but she never came back.At first she was kept busy as the news of the massacre on Gauda Prime roused rebels the length of the empire. Then the Federation fell. As all revolutions, it was difficult to say how it truly came about, but there were rumors that Orac masterminded the takeover. Sleer was one of the many who fled and were never properly accounted for in the bloody aftermath. It was assumed that she was killed by one who had personal cause to hate her. Either that, or she had escaped. 

The interim head of Earth's new government, Avalon, had her hands too full with a major restructuring of the whole, bloated bureaucratic monstrosity to spend much time worrying over one villain. They had captured enough corrupt officials to keep the trial docket filled for the next twenty years. She had Sleer's identity as Servalan confirmed, and her likeness transmitted to every known world, along with the highest bounty in the history of the human race. There were also lesser rewards posted for information as to her activities before her disappearance. The woman had been involved in so many ingenious and heinous schemes that an entire bank of computers was devoted to sorting them out.

It was not surprising, therefore, that one of the doctors reported Sleer's maternal experiment. It also wasn't surprising that the new bureaucracy lost the report for several months. It wasn't until the doctor called back complaining that he hadn't been paid that the story was investigated. The investigator did not feel qualified to handle the situation and passed the problem on to his superior, who passed it on to her superior. And so on. Until, finally...

Avalon stood, hands on hips, surveying the translucent cylinders. Unmistakably human infants bobbed gently on unseen currents inside the cylinders. "How long?" she asked abruptly.

The same doctor who had been brow-beaten by Servalan sighed. "If you mean how long until they are ready to be decanted- another two weeks."

"Two weeks." Avalon touched the nearest cylinder. It felt warm, and pulsed, in a regular rhythm. "Two weeks until the universe is blessed with Servalan's offspring. There are people who would consider them heirs apparent. It might be wiser to terminate them now."

"I don't think you want to do that." She handed Avalon a sheet of paper. "These are their fathers."

Avalon read, and turned pale. She crumpled the paper in her fist. "You are to tell no one."

The doctor nodded. "I haven't. They are innocent. Let them live and I will say nothing."

"Very well." Avalon gazed at the blurred baby faces, then shook her head. "I will return in two weeks . Once I take them, you will destroy all records, and forget everything." 

"What will happen to them?"

"They won't be harmed. That is all you need to know."

***

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclectic_house/8529419470/)

Aimee sat very still, afraid to dislodge the hair ribbon Housemother Leona had put on her for visiting day. She looked down, admiring the shine on her new, black shoes, and checked that her socks hadn't fallen down. Her bright red sweater was clean, as was her spotlessly white blouse, and blue plaid skirt. She folded her hands in her lap, and tried very hard not to swing her legs. People liked little girls who were clean, and quiet. And pretty. She glanced at Cecilia, sitting further down the bench. Cecilia was pretty. She had curly blonde hair and big blue eyes, and everyone liked her. Aimee couldn't help scowling. 

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclectic_house/8528306861/)

"Aimee!" Leona scolded, gently. "Now, dear, you remember our little talk."

"Yes,'m," Aimee said politely and smiled. 

"That's better, dear." 

Aimee suffered the inevitable pat on the head, still smiling. It was so hard to sit still and smile, but she had to. People who wanted a little girl were coming.Parents. Maybe this time, if she was very good, someone would pick her. 

But they didn't. One couple talked to her this time, and she thought maybe they liked her, but after they went into the office, they looked at her sadly, and shook their heads and went to talk to another little girl. No one ever wanted her after they'd been to the office. At least no one took Cecilia, either. She stuck her tongue out at Cecilia. "No one wants you," she whispered, spitefully. 

Cecilia's bright smile vanished and she began crying.

Aimee felt bad about that. She'd thought Cecilia would get mad, and then she could get mad at Cecilia. She wanted to fight someone. 

"That wasn't nice," Cecilia's friend Beatrice said, while patting Cecilia on the shoulder. "No one wants you because you're mean." All three girls were the same age, but Beatrice was bigger than average, while Aimee was slighter than most. But Aimee was angry, and feeling sorry about hurting Cecilia's feelings, and upset that maybe Beatrice was right and no one liked her because she wasn't a good little girl. So she got up and slapped Beatrice in the face. 

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclectic_house/8529419562/)

Beatrice got very red and hit Aimee back, while the other girls ran around the room, shouting, and Cecilia sat on the bench, big, blue eyes wide, startled.

Leona pulled the fighters apart, and took all three of them to the quiet room; Cecilia still crying, Beatrice sullen, and Aimee in a high- flying rage, kicking and screaming until the woman lost patience and dumped a paper cup of water over her head. "Now sit there and be still!" 

Aimee wiped the water off her face and sat down, as far from the other two as she could. The woman nodded and left the room, leaving the door open so she could look in and see that they didn't move.

Cecilia stopped crying after a while and Beatrice stared at Aimee. "It's all your fault," she whispered, and Aimee didn't dare say anything back because the housemother was watching her.

They sat there a very long time, until Leona came for them. "You are going to the Headmaster's office. Behave yourselves!" She fussed over the three of them for a minute, straightening their clothes and making them as presentable as possible. She took Beatrice and Aimee by the hands, herding Cecilia in front of them. 

They had never been to the office, and hung back as they approached the door. "He's a very busy man, so you girls listen to him, and don't talk back." Leona pried their hands off her skirts and pushed them forward. "Go on, now. Don't be afraid, he doesn't bite."

Beatrice and Cecilia clung together. Aimee sniffed, trying not to cry. She wouldn't be a baby like Cecilia. Even though everyone hated her. The office was big, and had one wall full of pictures of children, smiling children with smiling grown-ups holding them, or just looking at them as if they were wonderful. Aimee was sure they were all children who'd gotten new homes. Looking at the pictures made her throat hurt worse than ever. She looked the other way, and was surprised to see another little girl she knew already in the office, huddled on a bench. Dee Dee was a blonde, like Cecilia, but her hair was only a little wavy and her eyes were muddy hazel. She looked even more frightened than Aimee felt, which made her feel better. 

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclectic_house/8528306631/)

The Headmaster rose from behind his desk to point out the new girl. "When your Housemother told me what happened, I thought Dee Dee should be here, too." He looked very serious, but not angry. "There has been a mistake. None of you ought to be in the visiting group. You can't be adopted." 

"I'm sorry," Aimee cried. "I didn't mean to be bad."

The Headmaster shook his head. "Your Housemother thought she was being kind, by letting you four join the group each week on visiting day. She was wrong. Do you understand why children come here?"

"Because no one wants them," Dee Dee said, surprising Aimee. She didn't think Dee Dee would say anything.

"No. Children are sent here for many reasons, but that's not one of them. Sometimes parents can't care for their children properly and they send them to us. Sometimes parents die. We try to find the right families for each of our children. But we have to know the birth mother and father won't ever try to take the children back."

Aimee didn't understand. She knew what being an orphan was and why they were there. Dee Dee was right. If no one adopted you, it was because you weren't good enough. She'd been here all her life, and so had the other three. There must be something wrong with them, maybe they were sick and no one wanted to tell them. Maybe that was why no one would take them, because they were going to die. She didn't really believe it, but the thought pleased her. At least that wouldn't have been her fault.

The Headmaster sighed. "I know this is hard for you to understand. The law says that we need proof that your parents are dead, or for them to sign a form that says they want you to have new homes, before you can be adopted."

"Aren't our parents dead?" Beatrice asked, puzzled.

"Well..." The Headmaster paused, and wiped a cloth over the top of his head, which was very bald and very sweaty. "We think they are. But we don't know. We can't send you to a new family, only to have your parents show up and fight over you."

"If they cared about us, they would have come for us," Aimee said. "They won't ever come."

He nodded slowly. "That is very likely. But we can't break the law."

"Why not?" Dee Dee asked. "We won't tell anyone."

Aimee thought that was very sensible. "We won't ever tell anyone, " she added.

Cecilia and Beatrice agreed, readily. Anything had to be better than living here.

"I'm sorry. It's out of the question." He did look sorry, but that didn't help. He sat down behind his desk, and began shuffling computer disks. "If we ever get proof..." his voice faded as if he didn't think that would ever happen.

"Who were my parents?" Cecilia asked. "Do you know?"

The Headmaster looked uncomfortable. "No. That's the problem," he said finally. "All four of you were foundlings, left on our doorstep as newborn infants on the same day. The odd thing was, each of you had a note pinned to your blanket. Just 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D'. That was why you were named Aimee, Beatrice, Cecilia, and Dee Dee. After the letters."

The girls puzzled that one out. "Does that mean we're sisters?" Aimee asked, excited. Having sisters wasn't as good as having parents, but it would be a kind of family. 

"It is possible," he admitted. He cleared his throat. "But I doubt it, after all, you don't look like each other." He dismissed them with that, calling Leona to take them back to the dormitory.

***

"Could we be sisters?" Dee Dee had sneaked out of her bed after lights out, and crept up beside Aimee's bed to ask her question.

Aimee thought about it. Beatrice and Cecilia both had curly hair, but Beatrice's hair was brown, matching her eyes that weren't as dark as Aimee's or as light as Dee Dee's. Only she and Dee Dee were the same height. "Yes," she said. "You could be my sister." They could pretend, anyway. 

Dee Dee smiled, and Aimee smiled back.

"Let's tell B and C," Dee Dee said.

"Bea and Cee?" 

"Yes, and you're A."

Aimee frowned, but Dee Dee was still smiling, and Aimee couldn't help returning it. That was the start of the Alphabet Gang.

***

Even after she got to know Beatrice and Cecilia better, Aimee still wasn't sure she liked them, but it was nice to have someone to belong to- especially on visiting day. Aimee hated visiting day. All the other children got scrubbed up and on their best behavior, while she and her 'sisters' were given simple games to keep them occupied in the empty dormitory. Dee Dee cried a lot on visiting day, while Beatrice was sullen and Cecilia bored. Aimee pretended she didn't care, but she was always short-tempered on that day.

"Let's play Hide and Seek," Cecilia suggested.

"I don't want to," Aimee answered.

"Why not?" Dee Dee asked. "The puzzle's done."

"I want to finish my two - torial," Aimee said, frowning as she concentrated on her lessons. She liked to use big words, even if she sometimes used them wrong. 

"Let me see, Aye," Beatrice said, looking over Aimee's shoulder. She changed the last word of Aimee's answer and the computer went into its end-of-lesson pretty pictures and music reward. 

"I wanted to do it," Aimee said, folding her arms across her chest and scowling.

"Well, it's done now," Beatrice said, practically. "Come on, everyone's down in the visiting room. We can do whatever we want."

Aimee tilted her head to one side, thinking. "It's no fun hiding in the dorm." She gave a wicked smile. "Let's go investigate the Head's office." 

"Investigate? Like on Space Spy?" Cecilia asked, intrigued. One thing they all shared was a love for the latest adventure vid, starring handsome Guy Starbright in his quest to bring to justice the wicked escapees from the old, bad Federation. Playing Spies would be fun, they all thought.

Only Dee Dee wasn't exactly sure. "We could get in trouble."

"Only if they catch us," Cecilia answered. 

Dee Dee hesitated, but when the other three left on their 'mission', she went along. After a few minutes, she was caught up in the excitement. "Nobody's here," she reported, after sneaking around the corner. She could see the office door. "But won't he be inside?" she wondered.

"If he is we can say we're lost," Cecilia said. "Everybody thinks we're stupid just because we're little." She knocked on the door, and said, "Hello?"

No one answered so Cecilia tried the control, but the door stayed shut. Dee Dee kicked at the panel, but it wouldn't move. "We can't get in and I've hurt my toe," she said, sulking. 

Beatrice was silent, staring at the door panel. "Last week, I watched a repairman fix a stuck door. He opened this." She pointed to a small metal plate beside the door.

"How?" Aimee asked, running her fingers all around the plate.

"Well, he did something with a long, shiny thing, and it opened."

The other three looked at Beatrice. Beatrice shrugged. "I guess we need a long, shiny thing."

They gathered all the long, shiny things they could find, but nothing worked. The plate stayed shut and so did the door. Finally Dee Dee heard people coming, and they ran back to the dormitory. Panting and giggling, they fell onto the nearest bed together.

"That was fun," Cecilia said, her eyes shining.

"We almost got caught," Dee Dee pointed out.

"I know. That's why it was fun."

Aimee said, "But we didn't get in." The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to get into the office. Maybe the Head didn't look hard enough, maybe their parents had signed that form that said they could get homes. Maybe it was in his office, under a bunch of other forms. She rolled over onto her stomach, and pouted. "I wanted to see."

"See what?" Cecilia asked. 

"See our files. Maybe our parents' names are there." She didn't say anything about the form, because she was afraid they'd tell her she was silly. 

The other three nodded. Everything about them was in the files, Leona said. She checked them to see who wasn't going to get dessert because they'd broken the rules. But Leona was nice, and mostly she 'forgot' who was bad when it came time for a treat. She was especially nice to the Alphabet Gang. Aimee thought it was because she felt sorry for them. 

"I'm sorry I didn't watch the repairman better," Beatrice said. 

"If we had the Headmaster's keys, we could have got in," Dee Dee said. When the others looked at her, she grinned. "He has a big ring with all these computer keys on it. Leona borrowed it once to open the supply room to get more art paper."

"But how could we get the keys?" Aimee said. 

"I don't know." 

Aimee sighed again and all four girls lay on the bed, thinking about the Headmaster's keys.

***

"I got them!" Dee Dee said. She was laughing, and clapping her hands so that it took Aimee a moment to see the metal ring she held. 

"The keys!" Aimee tried to get them, only Dee Dee wouldn't let go. 

"Stop it!" Beatrice hissed, looking around to make sure no one was watching. "Aimee!"

Reluctantly, Aimee let go. Dee Dee handed the keys to Beatrice. "He left them in the changing room by the swimming baths. I looked under the door."

"Did anyone see you?" Beatrice asked.

"Nobody ever sees me," Dee Dee complained. "I'm not pretty enough."

"You're lucky," Cecilia told her. "They always pinch my cheeks and pat me on the head."

"Can we go to the office now, Bea?" Aimee asked, hopping from foot to foot in impatience. 

"Yes. We better hurry." 

The office wasn't a popular spot, as people mostly got called there when they were in trouble, so that corridor was usually empty. It was empty now, which was lucky as it took them several tries to find the right key. The door opened, and they stood just outside, staring in. Sneaking into the Headmaster's office had to be breaking the worst rule of all. They might never get dessert again.

Bea finally stepped forward. She was the biggest and usually wound up leading. She went over to the desk. There were a lot of computer disks and real paper notes piled up on top of it. She picked up the top note, because it was plasticated, like important things you want to keep for a long time. It was full of small print that didn't make sense. She looked around. She didn't know what a file looked like, but she was pretty sure there weren't any lying around. "Aye, you read good. Come and tell me what this says."

Aimee came in, along with the other two. She puzzled over the paper and tried sounding out the words. "I- nit Off Comp?"

A wall panel slid aside, revealing a dark glass screen of a graphic visualizing computer. Some old-fashioned people liked them better than the new Oracle models even though you did have to tell them what to do. Encouraged, Aimee tried the next line. "Sys Line On." The screen brightened and turned blue. "Sub Prog Voc Syn". 

" Child Care Facility number 152 on line. How may I serve you?" It was the same computer voice that they used in their tutorials. Aimee smiled. Her little computer was very friendly, but it didn't know much, and it wasn't connected to any other computers. The Headmaster's computer had to be better.

"I want to know who my parents are," Dee Dee said, taking over while Aimee was feeling pleased with herself. 

"Insufficient information."

"What's that mean?" Dee Dee asked.

"I think it means it doesn't know you, so how could it know your parents?" Cecilia put in helpfully.

"I'm Dee Dee."

"Insufficient information."

Dee Dee stomped her foot. "What good are you? Me and my friends, we want to know who our parents are!"

"Insufficient information."

"I'm Dee Dee and my friends are Aye, Bea and Cee! Aye, Bea, Cee and Dee!" Dee was getting loud, ignoring Bea's attempts to shush her.

"Code accepted."

The blue screen faded, and was replaced by an image of four babies, all wrapped in white blankets, lying in individual autocradles. The blankets were marked, each with a single letter, A, B, C , and D, as the Headmaster had told them. Fascinated, the girls leaned close to the screen. The image shifted, moving to take in more of the surroundings. The Headmaster came into view. He had more hair, and wasn't as fat, but it was him. He looked upset. "I am making this record in the event I may someday need to prove my innocence in this matter." He ran his hand through his hair. "Under protest, I have accepted these infants into Child Care Facility number 152 on this, the fourth day of the fifth month of the New Republic." He gave a funny smile. "As Avalon herself gave the order, I didn't have much choice. She won't tell me where the children came from, or their parentage. I can only speculate, and I am not that sure of our new government that I care to do that.

"They are healthy, and normally I could easily find homes for them, but I have been refused the necessary permissions. In private, I have been told to consider the parents as heroes of the revolution who died so that others might be free. For all I know, it may even be true, but why not give me the death certifications, so the children can be adopted? Someone is hiding something, and they are the proof. 

"Avalon did make one request. She wants them to be named according to the letters she has affixed to their blankets. That isn't much to go on, I know. But someone, somewhere, knows the meaning of A, B, C, and D."

The image changed to a close-up of the infants. Then the screen cleared.

"Please specify which records you wish to view next."

"I want to see my parents," Dee Dee wailed.

"Insufficient information."

"It doesn't know," Beatrice said, sadly. "Nobody knows."

"Avalon does," Aimee said. "The Headmaster said so."

"Who is Avalon?" Cecilia asked.

The computer apparently assumed that question was directed at it. "Avalon is President Emeritus."

"What does that mean?" Aimee asked. 

The computer paused. "The question is not specific."

"What's a President Emer- eat-us?" Aimee asked.

"It is an honorary office, given to the previous leader of the New Republic."

Dee Dee said in a very small voice. "The President of everything?"

A loud adult voice startled them."What are you children doing in here?" 

They turned. Leona was standing in the doorway, hands on hips, looking very angry. Even madder than the time Dee Dee upset a glue pot all over the freshly laundered sheets for the whole dormitory.

"Oops," Beatrice said. 

"You left the door open," Aimee accused, staring at Cecilia.

"No, I didn't. It was Dee Dee."

Dee Dee put her fingers in her mouth. "Didn' mean 'o," she mumbled around them.

"You girls have really done it this time." Leona herded them over to the bench on the side of the room. "Playing with the Headmaster's computer? I'll have to call him so he can make sure it hasn't been damaged."

"We didn't break anything," Aimee protested.

"It isn't any good anyway," Dee Dee said. "It's stupid."

Cecilia elbowed Dee Dee, and Aimee pulled her hair, but Dee Dee squirmed away, and continued, "It says the President put us here."

"What?"

"President Emeree- something Avalon," Dee Dee added.

"Don't be silly," Leona added, automatically. "What would the President Emeritus be doing with you?"

Aimee wouldn't let anyone besides herself call Dee Dee silly. Even when she was, and this time Dee Dee was right, which made it worse. "The computer said so!" Aimee insisted. "Go ahead computer, show Leona A,B,C, and D."

"Code accepted."

The computer ran the message again, while Leona watched, her eyes round, and her jaw dropping open. "Avalon. Heroes of the rebellion?" She looked at the girls again. "Go back to the dormitory, and don't tell anyone about this."

"You're not going to tell the Headmaster on us?" Beatrice asked.

"Go!" Leona said, and the girls ran out the door.

They ran all the way back to the dorm, and got under Dee Dee's bed, because it was the closest.

"Are we in trouble?" Dee Dee asked.

"I don't know," Beatrice answered. "Leona was mad."

"But she wasn't mad at us," Cecilia said.

"I think she's mad at the Headmaster," Aimee said, and that thought silenced them all. They couldn't imagine anyone getting mad at him. He was the Headmaster. Nobody ever talked back to him.

After several minutes, Dee Dee said, "We're in big trouble," and put her fingers back in her mouth. 

Nothing happened though, and after a while they got tired of sitting on the hard, dusty floor and got up. The other children came back after visiting hour, and it was a day just like any other visiting day, with some children sad and others hopeful and all of them talking about the parents they hoped to get. 

It wasn't as hard as usual for the Alphabet Gang to listen to the talk, because now they had something of their own. The computer said their parents were heroes. Even if they couldn't tell anyone, they knew it.

***

"Why are we getting all dressed up?" Cecilia asked Leona the next morning, as the Housemother buttoned her up in a new, blue dress that just matched the satin ribbon that held her curls back from her face. 

"Yes, why?" Aimee asked. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, swinging her feet. Her dress was red, as red as a Palmerian apple. 

"Well, you're going on a trip, and the Headmaster wants you to look nice."

"A trip?" Dee Dee was so excited, she bounced, and the long yellow ribbons on the front of her dress bounced with her.

"Where are we going?" Beatrice asked, her eyes glowing. She was wearing a green dress, a color they called forest, which didn't mean much to the girls. The only plants they'd ever seen were the ones that grew in the orphanage garden.

"All the way to Central Dome. Where the Government offices are and where the Presidential Palace is," Leona said.

"The President? Avalon?" Aimee asked. 

"Shh!" Leona said and put on a stern look. "The Headmaster is taking you himself. You must be good little girls."

***

The trip started out very dull, with the four of them sitting in a public transport shuttle while the Headmaster frowned at them every time they moved or said anything. It didn't have windows, since it ran underground, but there was a video screen. Only some man had put on a SpaceBall game. Boring. So they sat, and fidgeted, and looked at the other people on the transport. One woman had interesting hair, all spiky purple and orange and a young man had drawings all over his body. Birds and fishes, mostly. You could see them because he didn't wear a shirt. They knew it wasn't polite to stare, but they couldn't help looking. He smiled back at them, so that was all right.

The picture man left on the second stop, though, and most of the people looked just like everyone else. After the picture man left, the Headmaster shook his head. "One thing about the old days, you didn't have off-worlders on the bus."

"Off-worlder?" Cecilia sighed. "I wish we'd asked him if he knew Guy Starbright."

The Headmaster frowned, and Beatrice nudged Cecilia. "Shh!" she whispered, "or the Headmaster might take us back before we see anything!"

Aimee would have added to the warning, but Dee Dee had suddenly turned shy of all the strangers and was holding her hand so tightly she couldn't feel her fingers. 

It was a long trip. Even the Headmaster seemed glad when they came to the last stop, and everyone left the 'bus'. The girls clung together in the big terminal, staring at the high, high ceiling and at the tiled floor that ran forever, with people walking very fast everywhere they looked. Everyone was going someplace important, it seemed.

"Now, hold hands, girls." The Headmaster pointed out a tall, young woman in a dark blue uniform. "If you get lost, go to someone wearing that uniform, and tell them you belong to Headmaster Dyle. They'll call me, and I'll come for you."

They clung tighter, frightened by the thought of being lost here.

"Now stay together." He took Aimee's hand, and Cecilia's. Dee Dee was already holding onto Aimee's other hand and to Beatrice, so they made a human chain. The crowd surged all around them, but they stayed together. 

Once they reached the outside of the terminal, the Headmaster had to pry Aimee's fingers loose so that he could signal a private transport. He put the girls in, said something quietly to the driver, and then got in with them. It was much smaller than the 'bus', and had real windows, so you could see the Dome city streets all around. If you scrunched way over, and looked up at the top corner of the window, you could even see the blue - white shine of the Dome protecting the city. 

This was exciting. All the people, and the buildings, and even some small trees trying to grow in pots at the roadside. Once Dee Dee said she saw a dog, a fluffy pink dog, walking next to a woman wearing a pink dress. They all jumped to that side, but when they got there all they saw was a man emptying a trash receptacle. 

This ride didn't take anywhere near as long as the 'bus' ride. They were sorry when the transport stopped in front of a large, white building. The Headmaster paid the driver and made them hold hands again.

The building was cold, and had shiny floors, and the people inside were in even more of a hurry than the people at the 'bus' terminal. The Headmaster spoke to a man behind a large desk, then led the girls to a row of lifts set in one long wall. The doors were opening and closing all along the line, with people getting in and out. They went in and rode for several minutes, then got out and went to another desk where a woman pointed them to another row of lifts. This lift went sideways, which felt funny until you got used to it. Then another desk, only this time the person behind the desk called someone to come and lead them. The corridors all looked alike, and they were getting tired of walking. So far it hadn't been much of a treat, unless you counted the picture man and Dee Dee's pink dog.

Another door opened, and another woman rose from behind a desk. Aimee couldn't help sighing. Another long walk in a scratchy new dress.

"Hello. My name is Avalon." The woman was talking to them. And looking at them. Dee Dee slipped behind the Headmaster, who pulled her forward and pushed her toward the woman.

The Headmaster said, "They somehow got into my computer. I don't know how much they found out, but it was enough to send my most trusted Housemother into a tizzy. She may talk. I don't know whether that matters or not, after all, whatever the scandal, it was nearly eight years ago."

"It still matters." Avalon shook her head, and smiled suddenly. "They got into your locked office? Into your computer?" She came out from behind the desk and came over to them. "You're Dee Dee, aren't you?" At Dee Dee's solemn nod, Avalon asked, "Did you open the door? It's all right, no one's mad at you."

"Yes 'm," Dee Dee whispered. 

Avalon grinned and turned to face Aimee. "You're Aimee. Did you get the computer to work?"

Aimee nodded, for once struck speechless. How did Avalon know?

Avalon laughed. "Blood will tell." She looked down at the girls. "Headmaster Dyle, you are dismissed. I'll assume full responsibility."

Dyle nodded and left, after telling the girls one last time to be good, and not annoy the President Emeritus.

Beatrice gathered her courage, and said, "Excuse me, please. But do you know who our parents are?"

"I do," Avalon said, "but I don't know where they are, or if they're still alive. Come here. I'd like you to meet someone." Avalon walked back to her desk and the large clear box of lights that filled one corner. "Orac, say hello to the girls." 

"Really, I must remind you that I have no interest in time- consuming social niceties," said the box.

"It's just a computer," Aimee said, disappointed.

"And not very nice," Dee Dee added.

The computer made a noise very like 'hrrumph', and said, "I am more than 'just' a computer. There is nothing beyond my abilities."

"Really?" Avalon put in. "Then why have you not been able to answer my question?"

"If you are referring to your tediously reiterated request for the location of Kerr Avon, Roj Blake, and their immediate associates, I must repeat, that information is not available."

"All right, then we shall have you answer a question for the girls. Tell us, where are their parents?"

Orac made his throat-clearing noise again. "You will have to be more specific."

"It's stupid," Cecilia said. "Just like the Headmaster's office computer."

"In- suff-ic-ient In-for-ma-tion," Beatrice sing-songed. "Stupid," she agreed.

Orac practically spluttered. 

"Now, let's be fair, and give him a chance," Avalon said. "Orac. These girls are Aimee, Beatrice, Cecilia, and Dee Dee. You may also have them listed as A, B, C, and D under the records provided in investigation # S1,673. You remember that, don't you? Now, what do you say?"

The computer buzzed and hummed. Then it said, "The two questions are identical. I can not answer."

The girls were puzzled. Avalon smiled again and said, "I didn't need Orac to tell me that. I knew your parents. I knew your fathers quite well. Beatrice, your father was Roj Blake. Aimee, your father was Kerr Avon. Del Tarrant was Cecilia's father, and Vila Restal was Dee Dee's."

Kerr Avon, Roj Blake, Del Tarrant, Vila Restal? The Alphabet Gang knew those names from Space Spy. Only last week, Guy had found Roj Blake in a cryo-tube being worshipped by a primitive tribe. He convinced them to let him revive Blake, only an earthquake buried the entrance to the cavern where the cryo-tube was and Guy had to leave without him.

"And our mothers?" Dee Dee asked, hesitantly. "Are they famous, too?"

Avalon paused. Finally she said, in a very different voice from the one she used when talking of their fathers,"You all have the same mother. Her name was Servalan. She was very famous once."

Cecilia said, "You didn't like her, did you?"

"No," Avalon admitted. 

"You think she wasn't a nice person," Beatrice said. "But you liked our fathers and they must have liked her. Don't people have to like each other to have a baby?"

Avalon's face got red. "Not always," she said. "You'll have to be older before you'll understand." She changed the subject. " I have been looking for your fathers for a long time. The New Republic needs them. From what I've been able to get out of Orac, I think they just don't want to come back."

Dee Dee's fingers found their way back into her mouth. "They don't want us," she whispered.

"Oh, no, I'm sure that's not true," Avalon didn't hug Dee Dee, as one of the Housemothers would have. "I bet they'd do anything to see you if they knew..." her voice faded, and she got a faraway look in her eyes. "I just bet they would." She turned back to Orac. "All right, you cantankerous box, you can't tell me where they are, but you can give them a message, can't you?"

Orac said, "It is possible."

"Good," Avalon said briskly. "You send them the file on investigation # S 1,673 and Child Care Facility number 152's complete records of Aimee, Beatrice, Cecilia and Dee Dee. Tell them their children want to see them."

Orac made a rather strangled noise, then it said, "I predict a strong possibility that the results of this action will not be to your liking, Avalon."

Avalon patted the computer on the top. "Just send the message. Let me worry about it."

"Very well."

Avalon looked at the girls. "Well, that's settled. Now, let's see, where shall you wait until they come?"

***

Aimee enjoyed living in Avalon's house even though it was so different from the orphanage that it was sometimes scary. For one thing, it was Outside. Really outside, with no Dome or anything. There were lots of servants, and people doing all sorts of interesting things. Most of them would let you watch, and sometimes even let you help as long as you were very quiet, and didn't touch anything without permission. 

Aimee wasn't sure if she wanted her father to show up, or not. Would he like her? He looked like a very serious, stern man in the pictures Avalon had taken from the old Federation records to show them. Avalon said their fathers didn't like their mother. After a lot of pleading and crying, Avalon had shown them pictures of Servalan, too and Aimee had to admit she looked a lot like her mother, much more than the other girls did. Would that make her father not want her? It would be very bad if their fathers came and took Bea, Cee and Dee, but Kerr Avon looked at his daughter and said 'I don't want you'. 

Then she wouldn't have a father _or_ her sisters, and Avalon would probably send her back to the orphanage for getting Avon mad. 

But sometimes she thought he would come, and shout her name and hug her and kiss her, and cry because he hadn't known he had a daughter. But mostly, she just wished they would come. Even if he only looked at her and left, she wanted to see her father. 

She sighed, and dropped another bread crumb into the water to watch the big orange and white fish gobble it down. She wasn't supposed to be at the fish pond by herself, but she liked it here. It was quiet, like it never really was in the orphanage. She could lie on the grass, and feed the fish, and pretend. 

There was a bright light, and a funny noise behind her. The fish flapped his tail, splashing Aimee, and disappeared. She turned, and saw two strangers; a blonde lady, and a black lady. They were both very pretty, but very serious.She froze, eyes wide, watching them. 

The blonde lifted one hand to talk into her bracelet. "Down and safe. I think we've already found one. We'll call in later." She didn't wait for an answer, if she was really talking to someone. She moved closer to Aimee. "Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you."

"I'm not afraid," Aimee lied. 

The blonde smiled. "My name's Soolin. My friend is Dayna. You're Aimee, aren't you?"

"Yes, 'm," Aimee replied. She backed up when Soolin reached out her hand. 

"Your father wants to meet you," Soolin said.

"Where is he?" Aimee knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but there was something about Soolin that made her feel- well, good. Like Leona. Like somebody who cared about her. And Avalon had showed pictures of her father's crew. There had been two women who looked like Soolin and Dayna. Maybe they were his friends.

"He's on our ship. He wanted to come, but Blake wouldn't let him."

Dayna spoke for the first time. "And Avon wouldn't let Blake come. He was afraid Avalon would talk Roj into staying on Earth. And then we'd all be committed to staying."

"I'd like that. Why don't you want to stay here?"

Soolin said, "It's taken us a long time to get them settled, and out of trouble." She exchanged a rueful smile with Dayna. "Well, out of major trouble."

Dayna laughed. "Look, Aimee," Dayna said, kneeling down so her face was level with Aimee's. "Roj Blake is a hero to the New Republic. They'd make him President for life, no matter what he said. We've worked hard to start over. We have a business, friends, homes, families. We're happy and we don't want to come back."

"Families?" Aimee said in a very small voice.

"Roj and I are bonded," Dayna said. "We have two little boys, younger than you."

"What about Bea?" Aimee asked. She hadn't thought that maybe Bea would be the one left behind, but if Blake already had two boys, maybe he didn't want another child. 

"Oh, he's already fallen in love with her," Dayna said, chuckling. "Her picture is in our cabin, right next to the boys'. Your daddy had your picture made into a holocube. He doesn't say much, but he really wants you. He isn't bonded, and doesn't have any children. I think you'd be good for him. All your fathers want you, very much."

Aimee smiled. 

"But we need your help," Soolin said. "Do you think you could find the other children and bring them out to us? If we have to search the house, we might get caught." She sighed. "It was easier, in some ways, fighting the Federation. We don't want to hurt Avalon's people or do anything to endanger you or the other children." 

"I can get them," Aimee said. "But how do we leave? There's a wall all around the garden."

Soolin touched her bracelet. "This is a teleport bracelet." She unclipped a small pouch from her belt, and took out four more bracelets, just like hers, only smaller. "Avon redesigned them to fit you and your sisters. It took a while."

Dayna added, "He kept grumbling that it would be easier with Orac."

Soolin grinned. "He does like to bring that up." At Aimee's puzzled look, Soolin explained, "Orac was Avon's computer, but Blake insisted he give it to the rebellion. The rebellion's been over for years, and Avon is still miffed."

"Oh." Aimee accepted the bracelets, and put them in her skirt pocket, after Soolin showed her- just in case- the button to press to talk to the ship. "Can I talk to my father?"

"Better not, just yet. We don't know who might be listening," Soolin said. "Be careful."

"Yes, 'm," Aimee said, and left the fish pond, heading back toward the house. She turned once, to wave, but she couldn't see either woman. She made herself walk, just like it was any other day, even though she wanted to run and jump all the way.

She found Dee Dee first, playing with her puzzle box in her room. A few whispers, and Dee Dee had her own bracelet and wide grin. 

"Dee Dee, shh!" Aimee was trying to check that the way was clear to the playroom, only Dee Dee kept giggling in her ear. "All right, come on!" She grabbed Dee Dee's wrist and tugged her after. On entering the playroom, she sighed in relief. Bea and Cecilia were there playing a game of Snakes and Ladders. "Here, take these," she said, hurriedly pushing the bracelets at them. "Our fathers have come for us! They want us to wear these so we can telly port."

"Telly port?" Cecilia asked. 

"Soolin says it's a way of moving very, very fast, so no one will catch us."

"Who's Soolin?" Bea asked.

"My father's friend." Aimee rolled her eyes. "Just put on the bracelets! We have to get out to the gardens."

"Aye," Dee Dee said from the window. "We'll have to go the long way round."

They looked. The gardener and his whole squad had just assembled on the lawn. Last time, they'd taken hours to finish up. There wasn't any way of walking past them without being seen, and they weren't allowed out while the work was going on, not since Cecilia had ridden the mower over a bed of begonias. They weren't in bloom yet, so she thought they were supposed to be a funny kind of grass.

Aimee looked at her bracelet. "No we don't. We can use the telly port." She was going to touch the button when she heard voices outside the door. Frightened, the girls ran out the other door, which led to Avalon's study. 

Aimee stopped in the middle of the room, looking at the plastic box on Avalon's desk. Orac. It was her father's computer, Soolin said. She went over to the computer. "Orac," she said, "my father wants you back."

"Of course," the computer replied smugly. "I have been expecting you. Aimee, you and your sisters must come close and each place a hand on me."

"We can't carry you," Dee Dee protested. "You're too heavy."

"It is not necessary for you to lift me. The teleport will take care of that. Follow my instructions!"

They shrugged, and put their hands on the computer. Aimee pressed the button on her bracelet, just as the voices in the other room became louder. "Father!" she cried, "Help!" forgetting exactly what it was Soolin told her to say.

Avalon came into the room, followed by her aide. "No!" she said.

Orac said, "I told you you wouldn't like it, Avalon," and made a chuckling noise.

Aimee was staring at Avalon's face, and getting very frightened, when everything went funny. It was like riding on a lift that went up, down, and sideways all at once, but didn't really go anywhere. She blinked, and jumped back as Orac thumped to the ground between the four girls. The desk was gone, which is why Orac fell. The room was gone, too, and Avalon and her aide. They were in a small, square room, with metal walls. 

"Hullo." A man rose from behind a long, metal console covered with buttons and lights and levers. It was Vila Restal. They recognized him from the pictures. Kerr Avon, Roj Blake and Del Tarrant were there, too, staring at them. Vila shook his head, and came forward, kneeling and holding out his arms. "Alphas," he grumbled, "Come here, Dee Dee. I'm your daddy." 

Dee Dee flung herself forward into his arms, chattering and crying at the same time. He held her, and ran his hand over her hair, and did a bit of crying himself.

That seemed to break the ice. Tarrant grinned and Cecilia grinned back at him before they hugged. Blake picked Bea up as if she were made of glass, and held her so close that their curly hair mingled and you couldn't tell where one stopped and the other began.

Aimee still looked at her father. He looked back. "I brought you Orac," she said, finally.

"Yes. I see," he said, without looking at the computer. He came forward, slowly and finally stopped a few paces away. "I never knew. We didn't know. We would have come for you, if we had guessed."

"I know." Aimee's lower lip trembled. It was very hard, looking at her father's face, as she tried not to cry. Suddenly she ran to him, and he caught her as she jumped into his arms. She buried her face against his chest. His arms tightened around her, and she felt him sigh, then he loosened his grip, and leaned back to smile into her face. 

"I wonder how Soolin and Dayna are doing?" he said. He put her down, but still held onto her hand. He picked Orac up with his other hand, and glanced at the machine. "That was very clever of you, to bring Orac back."

"It was on my advice," said the computer.

"Oh, shut up, Orac," Avon said, lazily. He deposited the computer on the nearest flat surface, and cleared his throat. "Vila- oh, never mind," he said, seeing the tears streaming down Vila's face. "I'll do it myself." He sat down behind the console. " Aimee, this is the teleport recall." He pointed out a bright red lever. "That flashing light is the request for pick-up." He chuckled. "It looks rather impatient, doesn't it?"

Aimee nodded. Avon pulled the lever. Aimee looked up at the white light that filled the room. Soolin and Dayna were there. They both looked annoyed. Soolin had twigs and leaves caught in her hair, and Dayna had a large streak of mud over the left side of her jumpsuit. 

"Well, it was nice that someone finally remembered us!" Dayna said, brushing uselessly at the muck. She mock-glared at Blake, who pretended to duck. Then she came over and hugged Bea while Blake was still holding her. 

Orac cleared its mechanical throat, and said, "It might be wise to leave, before Avalon sends interceptors."

"Ever sentimental," Avon commented. "Tarrant, would you care to do the honors?"

"Why not?" Tarrant put Bea down and grinned at her. "Would you like to fly a space ship?"

"Yes!" Cecilia shouted. "Can I make it go very fast?"

"As fast as you like, sweetheart." They left the room, hand in hand.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Vila said. "Two speed-mad Tarrants?" 

"Worse," Blake replied, looking over at the teleport console. Avon had the cover off, and was holding Aimee's hand, directing a probe to the mechanism. Aimee had her tongue stuck out to one side, as she concentrated. 

"But what if you switched these two?" she asked.

"Ah," Avon said, "That would be interesting. It would probably teleport you upside down. Shall we try it on Vila?" 

"No," Aimee said after a moment of consideration. "He might hurt his head."

"That explains a lot," Vila grumbled. He looked down at Dee Dee. "And what do you like to do?"

"This," Dee Dee said, taking her puzzle from her dress pocket to show him. 

Vila grinned, then he turned serious. "Er, Roj. Maybe you ought'n to tell Bea too much about your days as a rebel."

"Yes," Dayna agreed, "there does seem to be a pattern forming."

Blake laughed. "That's all right. There isn't anything to rebel against anymore. We've gotten to the part where they live happily ever after."

Bea looked up at her father and smiled.


End file.
